"decision by Merkel to authorize unrestricted entry led to heavy criticism in Germany as well as within Europe. In that period, Berlin was affected by a truck ramming incident in a Christmas market in December 2016. In 2017, Angela Merkel was elected to a fourth term as Chancellor. The FDP reenters the Bundestag and for the first time, the right-wing conservative AfD also enters. History of Germany since 1990 The history of Germany since 1990 spans the period following the Reunification of Germany, when West Germany and East Germany were reunited after being divided during the Cold War. Germany after"
"hold the majority of government posts and retain considerable control of government policy. Merkel was elected chancellor on 22 November. On 11 October 2005, Schröder announced that he would not take a post in the new Cabinet and, in November, he confirmed that he would leave politics as soon as Merkel took office. On 23 November 2005, he resigned his Bundestag seat. On 14 November 2005, at a SPD conference in Karlsruhe, Schröder urged members of the SPD to support the proposed coalition, saying it ""carries unmistakably, perhaps primarily, the imprint of the Social Democrats"". Many SPD members had previously"
"October the SPD announced their future ministers and on 17 October the CDU/CSU announced theirs. Edmund Stoiber of the CSU was to become the Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, but refused the post on 1 November after a conflict with Angela Merkel over the abilities of the minister to succeed him, and chose to continue his state-level role in Bavaria. The coalition agreement (""Koalitionsvertrag""), titled ""Together for Germany. With courage and humanity"", was signed and accepted by the congress of the CDU, CSU, and SPD on 12, 13, and 14 November. Angela Merkel was elected Chancellor of Germany on"
"of Chancellor. After the 23 May announcement that federal elections were to be advanced to September 2005, Wulff announced that he was not a candidate for the Christian Democrat nomination for Chancellor, particularly as he had not completed his first term as Premier of Lower Saxony. Instead, Wulff declared his support for Angela Merkel, the CDU leader in the Bundestag. Although there was speculation that Wulff would be given a position in the new government, entering federal politics, he remained Premier of Lower Saxony. Wulff was elected President of Germany on 2010 to follow Horst Köhler, who had resigned on"
"the Left Party (a partial successor of the Party of Democratic Socialism led by Gregor Gysi and former SPD chairman Oskar Lafontaine) made significant gains. Both Schröder and Merkel claimed victory, but the formation of a new government required careful negotiations. On 10 October 2005, officials from the SPD and the CDU/CSU indicated that negotiations between the two had concluded successfully and that the participating parties would form a grand coalition with Angela Merkel as Chancellor. When the Bundestag met on 22 November, 397 CDU/CSU and SPD Bundestag members duly voted for Merkel. Chancellor Schröder orchestrated the loss of the"
"for his government in order to trigger new elections. The Federal Constitutional Court, once again, allowed such motion of confidence, and the Federal President dissolved the ""Bundestag"" according to the Article 68, Par. 2 of the Basic Law. The German federal elections, 2005 were held on 18 September. After the elections, neither Schröder's SPD-Green coalition nor the alliance between CDU/CSU and the FDP led by Angela Merkel achieved a majority in parliament. On October 10, it was announced that the parties had agreed to form a ""grand coalition"". Schröder agreed to cede the chancellorship to Merkel, but the SPD would"
"Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German politician, and served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005, during which his most important political project was the Agenda 2010. As a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor he served as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony (1990–1998). Following the 2005 federal election, which his party lost, after three weeks of negotiations he stood down as Chancellor in"
"parties held conferences on 14 November which voted to approve the deal. The majority of CDU/CSU and SPD delegates in the newly assembled Bundestag elected Merkel as Chancellor on 22 November. 397 members of the Bundestag voted for Merkel, indicating that 51 members from one or more of the SPD, CDU or CSU do not support the coalition deal. Reports have indicated that the grand coalition would pursue a mix of policies, some of which directly contradict aspects of Merkel's political platform as a former leader of the opposition and candidate for Chancellor. The coalition intended to cut public spending"
"on 23 May. The CDU/CSU and FDP, with an average vote share of around 50% in pre-election polling during the weeks before the election, were clearly ahead of the other traditional coalition partners in Germany, SPD and the Greens. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU), and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) were able to form a centre-right government, with Angela Merkel of the CDU continuing as the Chancellor and the leader of the FDP, Guido Westerwelle, becoming Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor. The CDU/CSU received a slightly lower proportion than in the previous election, with"
"22 November 2005 by 397 votes to 202. From that date the cabinet was officially in power. First Merkel cabinet Merkel's first cabinet led the government of Germany from 22 November 2005 to 27 October 2009 throughout the 16th ""Bundestag"". Led by Christian Democrat Angela Merkel, the first female chancellor in German history, the cabinet was supported by a grand coalition between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU), and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). It followed the Second Schröder cabinet. It ceased to function after the formation of Second Merkel cabinet, which was"
"Koch agreed that all subsidies were to be reduced by 12 percent over several years. Steinbrück was a supporter of the so-called ""Agenda 2010"". In the state election on 22 May 2005, Steinbrück's SPD lost to the Christian democratic (CDU) opposition. This loss also had consequences for federal politics: then German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who already was enfeebled by weak opinion polls and criticism within his own party, announced plans to call an early federal election for the Bundestag. This resulted in the 2005 federal election four months later, after which Angela Merkel became Chancellor for the first time. After"
"May 2005, Merkel won the CDU/CSU nomination as challenger to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of the SPD in the 2005 national elections. Her party began the campaign with a 21-point lead over the SPD in national opinion polls, although her personal popularity lagged behind that of the incumbent. However, the CDU/CSU campaign suffered when Merkel, having made economic competence central to the CDU's platform, confused gross and net income twice during a televised debate. She regained some momentum after she announced that she would appoint Paul Kirchhof, a former judge at the German Constitutional Court and leading fiscal policy expert, as"
"indicated that he would resign as party chairman, which he did in November. Ostensibly responding to this, Edmund Stoiber (CSU), who was originally nominated as Minister for Economics and Technology, announced his withdrawal on 1 November 2005. While this was initially seen as a blow to Merkel's attempt at forming a viable coalition, the manner in which Stoiber withdrew earned him much ridicule and severely undermined his position as a Merkel rival. Separate conferences of the CDU, CSU, and SPD approved the proposed Cabinet on 14 November 2005. The second Cabinet of Angela Merkel was sworn in on 28 October"
"2005 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 18 September 2005 to elect the members of the 16th Bundestag. This became necessary after a motion of confidence in Chancellor Gerhard Schröder failed on 1 July. Following the defeat of Schröder's Social Democratic Party (SPD) in a state election, Schröder asked his supporters to abstain from the Bundestag motion, knowing the motion would fail and thus triggering an early federal election. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union (CSU), started the federal election campaign with a 21% lead over"
"Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; Kasner, born 17 July 1954) is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 2005. She served as the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 2000 to 2018. Merkel has been widely described as the ""de facto"" leader of the European Union, the most powerful woman in the world, and the leader of the Free World. Merkel was born in Hamburg in then-West Germany and moved to East Germany as an infant when her father, a Lutheran clergyman, received a pastorate in Perleberg. She obtained a doctorate in quantum"
"new ""Bundestag"" had already been elected in March 1983, yielding a strong majority for the new coalition, which eventually lasted until 1998. On 22 May 2005, after the SPD lost to the Christian Democrats (CDU) in the state (land) elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder announced he would call federal elections ""as soon as possible"". Constructive vote of no confidence were not used (Article 67), instead a motion of confidence (Article 68) in Chancellor Schröder was subsequently defeated in the ""Bundestag"" on 1 July 2005 by 151 to 296 (with 148 abstaining), after Schröder urged members not to vote"
"parodied Merkel to international acclaim with German media dubbing her impersonation as the best spoof of Merkel in the world. In 2016, a documentary film ""Angela Merkel – The Unexpected"", a story about her unexpected rise to power from an East German physicist to the most powerful woman in the world, was produced by Broadview TV and MDR in collaboration with Arte and Das Erste. Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; Kasner, born 17 July 1954) is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 2005. She served as the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)"
"the 2005 federal election, SPD and CDU formed a Grand Coalition under the leadership of new Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). Peer Steinbrück became finance minister of Germany in November 2005. He was charged with reducing Germany's budget deficit, curbing public debt and introducing changes in the taxation system. Following his initiative, Germany introduced a flat rate withholding tax of 25 percent on private income from capital and capital gains, with the aim of preventing tax evasion. He oversaw and orchestrated the regulatory and fiscal efforts to counter the largest financial and economic crisis in post-War history. From 2005, Steinbrück also"
"Ulla Schmidt (SPD). The principal losers in the 2009 election were the SPD. Rolf Schwanitz resigned his office as the Social Democrats went into opposition. Rolf Schwanitz Rolf Schwanitz (born Gera 2 April 1959) is a German national politician, From 1998 till 2005 he served under Federal Chancellor Schröder as a in the Federal Chancellery. He was then, from 2005 till 2009, in the Health ministry under Federal Chancellor Merkel. Schwanitz was born in Gera, a long established city some 75 km (40 miles) west of Dresden, and then in the heart of East Germany's southern industrial region. After successful"
"on the basis of this issue. 2005 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 18 September 2005 to elect the members of the 16th Bundestag. This became necessary after a motion of confidence in Chancellor Gerhard Schröder failed on 1 July. Following the defeat of Schröder's Social Democratic Party (SPD) in a state election, Schröder asked his supporters to abstain from the Bundestag motion, knowing the motion would fail and thus triggering an early federal election. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union (CSU), started the federal election"
"got 1.6%. The most likely outcome of coalition talks was a so-called grand coalition between the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD). Three party coalitions and coalitions involving The Left had been ruled out by all interested parties (including The Left itself). On 22 November 2005, Angela Merkel was sworn in by president Horst Köhler for the office of Bundeskanzlerin. The existence of the grand coalition on federal level helped smaller parties' electoral prospects in state elections. Since in 2008, the CSU lost its absolute majority in Bavaria and formed a coalition with the FDP, the grand coalition"
"Kohl. In autumn 2005, the Bundestagswahl 2005 ended the Gerhard Schröder era; Angela Merkel became chancellor of a Union/SPD-cabinet. From 2005 to 2013, Hintze served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Technology under ministers Michael Glos (2005–2009); Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (2009); Rainer Brüderle (2009-2011); and Philipp Rösler (2011–2013) in the first and second cabinets of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Between 2007 and 2013, he was also the government’s Coordinator of Aerospace Policy. From 2006, Hintze led the Bundestag group of CDU parliamentarians from North Rhine-Westphalia, the largest delegation within the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. In the"
"majority of delegates (397 to 217) in the newly assembled Bundestag on 22 November 2005, but 51 members of the governing coalition voted against her. Reports at the time indicated that the grand coalition would pursue a mix of policies, some of which differed from Merkel's political platform as leader of the opposition and candidate for Chancellor. The coalition's intent was to cut public spending whilst increasing VAT (from 16 to 19%), social insurance contributions and the top rate of income tax. When announcing the coalition agreement, Merkel stated that the main aim of her government would be to reduce"
"first female chancellor in German history. New for the 2005 election was the alliance between the newly formed Electoral Alternative for Labor and Social Justice (WASG) and the PDS, planning to fuse into a common party (see Left Party.PDS). With the former SPD chairman, Oskar Lafontaine for the WASG and Gregor Gysi for the PDS as prominent figures, this alliance soon found interest in the media and in the population. Polls in July saw them as high as 12%. Whereas in May and June 2005 victory of the Christian Democrats seemed highly likely, with some polls giving them an absolute"
"government in order to trigger new elections. In response, a grouping of leftwing SPD dissidents and the neo-communist Party of Democratic Socialism agreed to run on a joint ticket in the general election, with Schröder’s rival Oskar Lafontaine leading the new group. The 2005 German federal elections were held on 18 September. After the elections, neither Schröder's SPD-Green coalition nor the alliance between CDU/CSU and the FDP led by Angela Merkel achieved a majority in parliament, but the CDU/CSU had a stronger popular electoral lead by one percentage point. Since the SPD had been trailing the CDU by more than"
"in nature. Together with his wife, Köhler currently lives in Berlin and Chiemgau. Horst Köhler Horst Köhler (; born 22 February 1943) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union, and served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU and the CSU, and the liberal FDP, Köhler was elected to his first five-year term by the Federal Assembly on 23 May 2004 and was subsequently inaugurated on 1 July 2004. He was reelected to a second term on 23 May 2009. Just a year later, on"
"the arms dealer and lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber back in 1994. Schäuble's resignation initiated a generational change among the Christian Democrats, with Angela Merkel taking over as CDU leader and Friedrich Merz as chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. Ahead of the 2005 elections, Angela Merkel included Schäuble in her shadow cabinet for the Christian Democrats’ campaign to unseat incumbent Gerhard Schröder as chancellor. During the campaign, Schäuble served as Merkel's expert for security and foreign policy. Following the elections, Schäuble was mentioned as potential candidate for the office of Federal Minister of Defense. In the subsequent negotiations to form a"
"Joschka Fischer Joseph Martin ""Joschka"" Fischer (born 12 April 1948) is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens. He served as Foreign Minister and as Vice Chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005. Fischer has been a leading figure in the West German Greens since the 1970s, and according to opinion polls, he was the most popular politician in Germany for most of the government's duration. Following the September 2005 election, in which the Schröder government was defeated, he left office on 22 November 2005. In September 2010 he supported the creation of"
"and Wolfgang Schäuble, De Maizière was one of only three Ministers to have continuously served in Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinets from 2005 until 2018. Together with von der Leyen, he was widely looked on as a possible future successor to Merkel. Before his appointment to the federal cabinet, he served as Minister in the state government of Saxony, including as chief of staff, State Minister of Finance, and State Minister of Justice. In March 2018, he was succeeded by Horst Seehofer. Maizière was born in Bonn to the later Inspector general of the Bundeswehr, Ulrich de Maizière. He graduated at"
"and the CSU as separate parties. The Greens rejected coalition with the CDU/CSU after talks broke down. The CDU/CSU pressed their case for the Chancellery after victory in the delayed vote in Dresden, and ahead of talks with the SPD; the SPD maintained their own claim, but Schröder indicated that he would step aside if his party wished it. Finally, on 10 October, officials from the CDU/CSU and the SPD announced that negotiations to form a grand coalition had succeeded. Angela Merkel would become Chancellor and the sixteen seats in the new cabinet (including the Chancellery) would go equally to"
"1999 to 2002, and thereafter became leader of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. In February 2004 he was designated to succeed Schröder as party chairman in March 2004. Following Schröder’s defeat in the close 2005 elections, Müntefering helped form a grand coalition under the new Chancellor Angela Merkel and her center-right CDU/CSU parties. During the coalition talks, on 31 October 2005, Müntefering's favoured candidate for Secretary General of the SPD, Kajo Wasserhövel, was defeated by the left-wing candidate Andrea Nahles in a preliminary internal election. Müntefering subsequently announced his intention to resign as SPD Chairman, and was succeeded"
"Horst Seehofer Horst Lorenz Seehofer (born 4 July 1949) is a German politician serving as Leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) since 2008 and Minister of the Interior, Building and Community since 2018 under Chancellor Angela Merkel. From 2008 to 2018, he was Minister President of Bavaria; he also served as President of the Bundesrat between 2011 and 2012. First elected to the Bundestag in 1980, he served as Federal Minister for Health and Social Security from 1992 to 1998 and as Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection in the cabinet of Angela Merkel from 2005 to"
"Peer Steinbrück Peer Steinbrück (born 10 January 1947) is a German politician who was the chancellor-candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 2013 federal election . Steinbrück served as the 8th Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2002 to 2005, a member of the Bundestag from 2009 to 2016, and as Federal Minister of Finance in the first Cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2009. A graduate of the University of Kiel, Steinbrück began his political career in the office of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and became chief of staff to Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Johannes Rau, in"